ADJL: Everybody's Fool
by raincaster
Summary: Rose's thoughts about her double life as Rose/ Huntsgirl and why she betrayed the Huntsclan and saved Jake's world.


**AN: please tell me what you think. I enjoy doing song fictions and thought this one went really well with Huntsgirl (Thorn)/ Rose.**

_Everybody's Fool_

Evanescence

She had been the top of her class. So much so that Thorn had hunted alongside Huntsmaster out in the field since she had reached her thirteenth year. All she had to do was slay a dragon and her apprenticeship would be complete. However, Rose felt trapped. Whenever she tried to be a normal teenager, some duty for Thorn would get in the way. Whenever she wanted to be kind and popular Rose, the dutiful and determined Thorn pricked at her conscious. But somehow she had managed to keep the two identities separate. So much so that the girl was no longer sure who she was anymore. At least no one suspected the internal battle inside her. As far as she knew, she had had everybody fooled.

_Perfect by nature  
Icons of self indulgence  
Just what we all need  
More lies about a world that  
Never was and never will be  
Have you no shame? Don't you see me?  
You know you've got everybody fooled  
_

All the recruits and students looked up to her. After all she was _raised_ by the Huntsclan. They came to her for friendly yet firm tutoring. Her Hunts peers, her Hunts teachers, they knew her as Thorn, the Humtsmaster's apprentice. Her peers and teachers at Millard Fillmore Middle school however knew her as Rose, the sweet, popular girl who lives with her uncle. Secretly, Rose was who the girl preferred to be, who she enjoyed the most. But she had to play pretend… for both identities. To anyone who saw her, she was just the perfect, beautiful girl who was met to play whatever role she was currently in.

_Look here she comes now  
Bow down and stare in wonder  
Oh how we love you  
No flaws when you're pretending  
_

And then Jake Long had entered her life. And the girl found herself fighting to keep her identity as Rose for longer and longer periods of time, just so she could get closer to the popular skateboarder. There was something about the young man that just captured her interest. There was something about Jake that showed her who she really wanted to be… just Rose. But Jake certainly couldn't know about the Huntsclan. It was far too dangerous – what if a magical creature held him hostage against her? And besides, Huntsmaster would never allow it. Rose had a duty as Thorn. Help the Huntsclan ride the world of the vicious monsters. Thorn was holding her back from any normality and Rose found herself silently resenting it. No one could know that though… she had to fool everyone into believing her separate lives.

_But now I know she  
Never was and never will be  
You don't know how you've betrayed me  
And somehow you've got everybody fooled  
_

All she had to do was slay a dragon and her apprenticeship would end and maybe Huntsmaster would allow her a semi- normal life… more so then she had now at least. And the American Dragon had been the perfect target. That _creature_ had been a thorn in her side for the past year. He was far too witty and cocky for his own good. She would be the one who finally brought him down. Or at least that what she told herself. If she had allowed herself to reflect on everything that had gone between herself and the young dragon, she would have recognized a conflicting feeling of familiarity and friendship with him. One that she instantly knew the moment he cried out _Rose_ as she was about to slay him. One that she could no longer deny as she watched the dragon she has hunted for the past year transform into the young man she had come to care about so much. And in that instant she knew all that the Huntsclan had told her all of her life was a lie. Thorn the Hunts apprentice was a lie.

_Without the mask  
Where will you hide?  
You can't find yourself  
Lost in your lie  
_

So she lied back. When Huntsmaster asked why she didn't hold the American Dragon's hide in her hands she had simply told him that he had gotten away again. Luckily he chose to believe her, but not without punishment. He sent her back to the Academy. Weeks passed. And Thorn wanted Rose back. When Jake came undercover, he ended up risking his life to give her back part of hers. And so she risked hers to help him with his. She spied on the Huntsclan's plans for the destruction of the magical world. She slipped into Dreamland with Jake whenever she could to be by his side. And she caught yet another lie… and finally a truth. The Huntsclan had lied to her once again, they hadn't saved her at birth; they had _stolen_ her at birth. But she finally knew she had a family. And when she finally confided to Jake about it; she was comforted with the knowledge that Jake would do what it took to get her back to her family as soon as possible. Thorn was a lie that Rose couldn't take anymore. And Jake's friendship and care had become the truth she knew she could trust and love.

_I know the truth now  
I know who you are  
And I don't love you anymore…  
_

So to have that hope, that love, that truth taken away from her the moment the Huntsmaster found out about her relationship with the American Dragon just about crushed her. She couldn't betray Jake… but she had to protect her family. With a heavy heart and determined mind, she took back the skulls she and Jake had found together. She braced herself for this betrayal of her heart. She allowed Thorn to come back. And when she dropped down from that helicopter, when she had saw Jake's look of horror and sadness, she almost lost it. _I'm sorry!_ She felt like screaming. _It's not as it seems! _But no one could suspect a thing, even Jake. _  
_

_It never was and never will be  
You don't know how you've betrayed me  
And somehow you've got everybody fooled  
_

She fought Jack back. She fought up until the last moment, when she could finally seize her chance and steal the Huntsmaster's wish. She now knew that Thorn had been a lie. Therefore, she would make sure Thorn could never come back, and she would take down the rest of the Huntsclan with her. That way her truth would be safe. Her family, Jake and his family, they would all be safe.

_It never was and never will be  
You're not real and you can't save me  
And somehow now you're everybody's fool_


End file.
